Stop the DCR from codifying a leash law in all state parks

[Michele Biscoe]

Dear Somerville Dog Owners,

I am writing to you today as someone who enjoys visiting state parks (like the Middlesex Fells) and beaches with my dog, Strummer, who is now sixteen years old!

I am writing to ask you to please take this opportunity to tell the DCR that the codification of a state-wide leash law on DCR properties is bad policy (see below*).

The DCR is holding a public hearing about the proposed New Park Rules and Regulations tomorrow evening, Tuesday, November 12, in Brighton from 7:30 to 8:30, at Community Rowing, Inc. 20 Nonantum Road, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135.

Additional information is available from the DCR at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/public-outreach/public-meetings/.

Please also see the background from MassDOG, the Coalition of Massachusetts Dog Owner Groups, on how the proposed new Parks Rules and Regulations will impact dog owners in Massachusetts (http://www.massdog.org/category/massdog-news/_.  You might go to their Facebook page or the FellsDOG group on Facebook and share the information with other dog folks that you know:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151759708847285&id=121226967284

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fellsdog/permalink/581664251899932/

Please feel free to forward this message, too.

*A state-wide leash law on DCR properties is bad policy because

• It is unenforceable;
  
• It ignores longstanding customary use of DCR facilities;
  
• Moreover, the proposed Park Rules and Regulatoins provide no guidance as to the process by which users may petition the DCR to designate and post areas where dogs are allowed off-leash.
  

In 2012 people who visit the Middlesex Fells with dogs (including many Somerville dog owners) participated in a process that lasted almost the whole year to obtain accommodations to enjoy the trails of the Middlesex Fells with our dogs under voice control.  There are over 100 miles of trails in the Middlesex Fells.  After attending at least eight public meetings, after writing over seventy letters and submitting a petition with over three hundred unique signatures, can you guess how many miles of trails have been designated and posted to allow dogs to be off leash?  That’s right. Zero.

There is not one inch of trail in the Fells for people with dogs under voice control.  Yet, for every two people visiting the Fells there is one dog, and 85% of dogs in the Fells are not restrained by a leash.  These are the DCR's numbers from a survey they conducted at the Fells.

Thank you and have a peaceful Veteran's Day.

Best,

Michele